Earpiece with an inertial sensor

ABSTRACT

A communication device includes an earpiece housing adapted for fitting to an ear of a user such that the earpiece does not block the canal, an inertial sensor operatively connected to the earpiece housing for sensing positional changes of the user&#39;s ears, a processor operatively connected to the inertial sensor and disposed within the earpiece determining presence of an alert condition at least partially based on positional changes, and a speaker operatively connected to the processor.

PRIORITY STATEMENT

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/236,196, filedSep. 6, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,229 which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/134,239, filed on Apr. 29,2002, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/587,743 filed Jun. 5,2000 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,081 which is a continuation ofU.S. Ser. No. 09/309,107 filed May 10, 1999 which issued as U.S. Pat.No. 6,094,492.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an earpiece with an inertial sensor.Portions of the earpiece of the present invention are described in U.S.Pat. No. 6,094,492, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Knowledge of a user's head position can be used for various purposes.One such purpose is to determine whether a person has nodded off andfallen asleep. One example of such a device is found in U.S. Pat. No.6,048,324 to Socci et al. Socci uses head gear to sense movement of auser's head.

Nevertheless, problems remain. In particular, a specialized head gearapparatus can be inconvenient and unwielding. A head gear apparatus canalso be very conspicuous in appearance. What is needed is an unobtrusiveway to monitor head movements and communicate information regarding headmovements.

Therefore, it is a primary object, feature or advantage of the presentinvention to improve upon the state of the art.

It is a further object, feature or advantage of the present invention toprovide for an earpiece capable of determining positional changes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for an earpiecethat is capable of associating positional changes with the occurrence ofparticular events.

These and/or other objects, features or advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the specification and claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides for a communication device having anearpiece housing adapted for fitting to an ear of the user. An inertialsensor is operatively connected to the earpiece housing for sensingpositional changes of the user's ear. A processor is operativelyconnected to the inertial sensor and disposed within the earpiece fordetermining the presence of an alert condition at least partially basedon positional changes. A speaker is also operatively connected to theprocessor.

The present invention provides the advantages of producing an audiblealert using the processor and the speaker. The audible alert is producedwhen the inertial sensor detects a positional change that the processorassociates with an alert condition. For example, the inertial sensor canbe associated with the nodding of the head such as occurs duringsleeping such that when this positional change occurs, an audible soundis produced thereby waking the user up. One example of an application ofthe device is to wake a user up who is wearing the earpiece who, whiledriving, begins to nod off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a pictorial representation of a user wearing the earpiecewhen their head is in an upright position.

FIG. 1B is a pictorial representation of a user wearing the earpiecewhen their head is nodded to a downward position.

FIG. 1C is a pictorial representation of a user wearing the earpiecewhen their head is positioned in a sideways position.

FIG. 1D is a pictorial representation of a user with their head movingdownward.

FIG. 2A–2C provide graphs of head motion over time.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the earpiece as adapted for fitting to an earaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing one embodiment of a method according tothe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the inventionwherein an earpiece is communication with a computer of a car.

FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation showing a car adapted for use withthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention provides for an earpiece with an inertial sensorthat is adapted to produce an audible alert that can be based uponinertial changes detected by the inertial sensor.

FIGS. 1A–D illustrate pictorial representations of a user wearing anearpiece according to the present invention. The earpiece 10 isassociated with an ear 12. Although the earpiece 10 is shown on the leftear of an individual, the present invention contemplates that the devicecan function on either ear.

In FIG. 1A, the user is in an alert and aware position. In FIG. 1B, theuser has begun to nod such as is associated with a user falling asleep.When the user falls asleep, an audible alert 15 occurs that ispreferably of sufficient volume to wake the user up. The presentinvention contemplates that inertial changes can be monitored on asingle axis or multiple axes. FIG. 1C shows a user whose head is tiltedto the side and downward which is along a different axis than in FIG.1B. As shown in FIG. 1C, the audible alert 15 is produced whichpreferably is of sufficient volume to wake the user up. FIG. 1Dillustrates inertial head movement of the user.

The present invention contemplates variations in the manner in which theposition or movement of a users head is associated with the user fallingasleep. For example, when a user moves their head in a short andcontrolled manner, this motion need not be associated with the userfalling asleep. Such motion can be associated with the useraffirmatively nodding their head. The present invention contemplatesdistinguishing between the movement of a users head when the user isfalling asleep and the movement of a users head when the user isconsciously controlling the movement of their head. The presentinvention contemplates this distinction can be made based upon thedirection of the motion over time. For example, head movement mayinvolve more oscillation before coming to rest in a downward positionwhen a user is falling asleep. Similarly, the user's head may move sideto side as well as downward before the user falls asleep.

FIGS. 2A–2C provide graphs illustrative of head position over time. InFIG. 2A, a user maintains their head in a constant horizontal position.In FIG. 2B, movement of the head is shown over time. The motion of thehead can be associated with controlled head movement such as when aperson nods their head up or down affirmatively. FIG. 2C provides agraph of head movement over time that can be associated with a usenodding off. In FIG. 2C a user gradually nods their head, catchesthemselves momentarily, continues to gradually nod their head, catchesthemselves momentarily and slightly, and then nods off. The presentinvention provides for distinguishing between conscious head movementsand nodding off in various ways, including the time associated with aparticular head movement, the speed of a head movement, the size of ahead movement, the regularity or eradicness of a head movement and othervariations. Although, the graphs of FIG. 2A–2C are only two-dimensionalin nature, the present invention contemplates that additional morecomplex relationships and indicators can be monitored to determine whena user is falling asleep. That which is shown is merely illustrative.

FIG. 3 provides an illustration of the one embodiment of the earpiece 10fitted to an ear. Although a Behind The Ear (BTE) earpiece is shown, thepresent invention contemplates that a Completely In Canal (CIC) orotherwise configured earpiece can also be used to the present invention.

The earpiece 10 extends into the external auditory canal 20 of a userand fits against the canal wall 22. Although this design implementationis preferred, the present invention contemplates that the earpiece neednot extend fully into the external auditory canal, or need not extendinto the external auditory canal in the same manner. As shown, and as ispreferable, the earpiece 10 does not occlude the external auditory canal20. This allows the user to continue to hear sounds from theenvironment, when the earpiece is in place and makes the earpiece morecomfortable to wear.

The earpiece 10 includes an earpiece housing 14. The earpiece housing 14is preferably lightweight and can be flexible. An air conduction sensor26 and a bone conduction sensor 28 are also shown. The air conductionsensor 26 can be an ear microphone or other type of sensing device. Thebone conduction sensor 28 can be an accelerometer or other boneconduction sensing device that can be used to sense voice soundvibrations.

An inertial sensor 30 is also shown. An inertial sensor senses eitheracceleration, velocity, or other characteristics of changes in position.The inertial sensor 30 can be an accelerometer, a gyrometer, or othertype of inertial sensor or combination thereof. Where the inertialsensor 30 is an accelerometer, the present invention contemplates thatthe inertial sensor 30 can be a linear accelerometer, a multiple axisaccelerometer, or other accelerometer such as may be appropriate for aparticular design or an application.

An antenna 32 is also shown that can be used to transmit and receive asignal from a transceiver within the earpiece housing 14. The antennacan be either external or internal to the earpiece.

FIG. 4 provides a block diagram of one embodiment of a voicecommunication device 10 of the present invention. The system includes anair conduction sensor 26, a bone conduction sensor 28, and an inertialsensor 30. Each of the sensors 26, 28, and 30 are electrically connectedto a control unit 34 that preferably includes a processor 35 and atransceiver 37. The control unit 34 is also electrically connected to aspeaker 24.

The control unit 34 is preferably disposed within the earpiece 10. Theprocessor 35 is adapted for determining the presence of an alertcondition at least partially based on positional changes detected by theinertial sensor 30.

The control unit 34 can take various forms or configurations. Forexample, the control unit 34 includes a single chip containing aprocessor 35 and a transceiver 37. One example of such a chip is theBlue Core-2-ROM single chip Bluetooth system available from CSR. Thepresent invention, however, contemplates that the processor 35 and thetransceiver 37 need not be integrated on a single chip. Further, thepresent invention is in no way limited to the Bluetooth wirelessstandard or any particular wireless standard or protocol.

The present invention also contemplates that the voice communicationdevice 10 may be in communication with a remote unit 40 that includes ashort range transceiver 42 and a telephone transceiver 44 such as acellular telephone that can also be electrically connected to a PDA 46.The present invention contemplates that the telephone transceiver 44 andthe PDA 46 can be integrated such as in a smartphone or similar device.Instead of a PDA, the present invention contemplates that a computerassociated with a car can also be used.

FIG. 5 provides a flow diagram of one method of the present invention.In step 100 a positional or inertial change is sensed. This change canbe caused by movement of the head. In step 102 a determination is madeby the processor 35 or the control unit 34 that the sensed positionalchange exceeds a particular threshold. If the positional change does notexceed the threshold then there is no need for an alert and the nextpositional change is sensed in step 100. If, however, the positionalchange sensed exceeds a threshold in step 102, then in step 104 an alertis produced. This alert can be produced by the processor 35 and thespeaker 24. Preferably the alert is an audible alert or vibration. Tocreate a vibration alert, the present invention provides for backdrivingthe bone conduction sensor to produce a vibrating alert, or producing alow frequency signal of the speaker. In step 106, positional changes areagain monitored in order to determine if the alert was successful. Forexample, if the head returned to an upright position, then the alert wassuccessful. If, however, there was no positional change or aninsufficient positional change sensed after the alert, then in step 108the alert is modified and in step 104 a new alert is produced.

The present invention also contemplates that the occurrence of the alertcondition can be communicated remotely using the transceiver 37. Forexample, the short-range transceiver 42 receives notification of thealert condition and can communicate it to the PDA 46. The PDA 46 canstore the notification or further communicate notification of the alertcondition through the telephone transceiver 44.

The present invention contemplates numerous ways of modifying the alert.For example, the alert can be a longer audible alert, the alert can beof increased volume, the alert can be of different tone, or otherchanges in the alert can be made as may be appropriate in a particularapplication.

According to one embodiment of the methodology of the present invention,a user can activate the head movement monitoring of the device eitherthrough voice activation or otherwise. For example, a person who isdriving late at night who is tired could activate the alert function ofthe present invention. Alternatively, the present invention contemplatesthat monitoring head movement can be automatically activated. Forexample, when used in conjunction with a car computer, the presentinvention contemplates that monitoring can always take place when theuser is in the car. The present invention also contemplates that atemperature sensor in the earpiece can be used to determine whether ornot the user is actually wearing the earpiece. In such an embodiment,the temperature sensed would be expected to be at or near the core bodytemperature. If the temperature sensed was instead at or near an ambienttemperature, then it is known that the user is not wearing the earpieceand thus the head movement monitoring aspect of the invention should notbe active.

The methodology of the present invention further contemplates particularvariations best-suited for use when driving a vehicle. For example, thepresent invention contemplates that in addition to providing an audioalert, the present invention can communicate the occurrence of the alertto a PDA, computer, or other computing device. The computing device canthen take appropriate additional action. For example, where the computeris in a car equipped with a GPS device and mapping the system, thepresent invention contemplates identifying nearby interstate or highwayexits, nearby rest stops, lodging, or other areas of interest in orderto assist the driver in getting off of the road if necessary. Thepresent invention contemplates that such information can be receivedthrough a telephone transceiver or other communications device that isoperatively connected to the computer in the car or a PDA.Alternatively, databases of such information can be stored locally.Where a communications device is available, the present inventioncontemplates that additional actions such as contacting a motel torequest a reservation.

The present invention further contemplates that instead of merelyrelying on a speaker within the earpiece, the car audio system can alsobe used. Music can be played, loud or annoying tones can be produced andother appropriate actions can be taken until the appropriate feedback isreceived from the driver/operator. The driver/operator could provide thefeedback through touching a button on a screen or on the dashboard oraudibly giving a code word once or repeatedly. The present inventioncontemplates that many different types of feedback could be used.Another example is that the ear piece can provide for tactile feedbackby vibrating the ear through backdriving the bone conduction sensor orthrough a low frequency signal at the speaker.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention where thereis a voice communication device 10 such as an ear piece. The earpiececan include one or more sensors such as an air conduction sensor 26, abone conduction sensor 28, and a position sensor 30. Each of the sensorsis electrically connected to a control unit 34 that includes a processor35 and a transceiver 37. The ear piece unit 10 is in communication witha remote unit that has a short range transceiver 42 for short rangecommunications and a telephone transceiver 44 for voice communications.The short range transceiver 42 and telephone transceiver 44 areoperatively connected to a computing device such as a computer 120within the car. The present invention contemplates that various vehiclefunctions and features are controlled by the computer 120 within thecar. For example, there may be a GPS unit 122 electrically connected tothe computer 120 as well as in car sensors 124. The present inventionfurther contemplates that computer 120 within the car can control adisplay within the car, a sound system of the car, windows of the car,air conditioning within the car, or any number of vehicle functions. Thecomputer 120 within the car can control any of these functions in orderto alert the user of the occurrence of an alert condition.

FIG. 7 illustrates a car 130 with a steering wheel 132, a dashboard 134and a display 136. The display 136 can be used in conjunction with a GPSunit to provide for mapping of the location of the car 130 and toprovide directions. The present invention contemplates that other typesof vehicle input and output devices can be used to provide informationto the user or to receive feedback that a user has received notificationof an alert condition.

Therefore, an earpiece with an inertial sensor has been disclosed. Theearpiece and its accompanying method of use can be used in variousapplications and environments. The present invention contemplatesvariations in the particular components used, placement of thecomponents, and other variations which are within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

1. A communication device, comprising: an earpiece adapted for fittingto an ear of a user; an inertial sensor operatively connected to theearpiece for sensing positional changes; a processor operativelyconnected to the inertial sensor and disposed within the earpiecedetermining presence of an alert condition based on earpiece motion overtime associated with sleep pattern motion over time; and a speakeroperatively connected to the processor for producing audible alert. 2.The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a transceiveroperatively connected to the processor.
 3. The communication device ofclaim 1 further comprising a sensor operatively connected to theearpiece housing for sensing voice sound information.
 4. Thecommunication device of claim 3 wherein the sensor is an air conductionsensor.
 5. The communication device of claim 3 wherein the sensor is abone conduction sensor.
 6. The communication device of claim 1 furthercomprising a plurality of sensors operatively connected to the earpiecehousing for sensing voice sound information.
 7. The communication deviceof claim 6 wherein at least one of the sensors is a bone conductionsensor.
 8. The communication device of claim 6 wherein at least one ofthe sensors is an air conduction sensor.
 9. The communication device ofclaim 1 wherein the alert condition is associated with the user fallingasleep.
 10. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the alertcondition is associated with nodding.
 11. The communication device ofclaim 1 wherein the processor is electrically connected to the speakerand the processor is adapted to produce the audible alert uponoccurrence of the alert condition.
 12. The communication device of claim1 wherein the inertial sensor is a gyrometer.
 13. The communicationdevice of claim 1 wherein the inertial sensor is an accelerometer.
 14. Amethod of alerting a user, comprising: sensing a physical movement witha sensor operatively connected to an earpiece; processing the sensedphysical measurement to determine presence of an alert condition whereinthe presence of the alert condition is associated with a sleep patternmovement; producing an audible alert after occurrence of the alertcondition of the earpiece using a speaker disposed within the earpiece.15. The method of claim 14 wherein the physical measurement is apositional change of the sensor.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein thealert condition is associated with the user falling asleep.
 17. Themethod of claim 14 wherein the sensor is a gyrometer.
 18. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the sensor is an accelerometer.
 19. The method of claim14 further comprising transmitting notification of the alert conditionfrom the earpiece using a wireless transceiver of the earpiece.
 20. Themethod of claim 14 further comprising determining whether the user iswearing the earpiece by sensing a temperature associated with theearpiece.